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Groundbreaking held for new Bryan County High School fieldhouse

Scott Thompson/Bryan County Now A groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday for the new Bryan County High School and Bryan County Middle School fieldhouse. Construction will begin soon on the 7,500 square foot building, which should be ready for usage by late September or early October. From left to right: Board of Education member Marianne Smith, board member Amy Murphy, board member Dennis Seger, board member Paine Bacon, board chairman Eddie Warren, superintendent Paul Brooksher, board vice chairman Joe Pacenka, board member David Schwartz, Bryan County Commission chairman Jimmy Burnsed, Pembroke Mayor Mary Warnell, BCHS principal Dawn Hadley and BCMS principal Michael Tinney.

The athletics programs at Bryan County High School and Bryan County Middle School soon will be getting a tremendous boost in the way of facilities. A ground-breaking ceremony was held Monday night for a new high school and middle school fieldhouse and weight room with Bryan County Board of Education members as well as county and City of Pembroke officials and other special guests on hand.

Once the bidding process, which closes today at 2 p.m., is complete, and the board makes its final approvals at tonight’s regular monthly meeting, construction will begin on the roughly 7,500 square foot facility, which in addition to a weight room, will include home and visiting football team locker rooms, coaches’ offices and a trainer’s room. According to superintendent Paul Brooksher, the building, which will be situated between the football field, middle school gymnasium, softball field and practice field, should be ready for usage by late September or early October. While a final cost for the project has yet to be determined, it’s estimated to be around $1.1 million.

Mark Wilson, athletic director and head football coach at Bryan County High, thanked the board for its support in a phone interview Tuesday.

“We’re excited. It’s going to be great for our program, and we appreciate Dr. Brooksher and the board for helping to get it off the ground,” Wilson said. “The weight room is going to be bigger and better, and it’s really going to pay off in the long run and help make all of our sports more successful.”

While the new fieldhouse will keep the area between the athletic fields busy, it won’t impede on any of the teams, thanks in large part, Brooksher said, to the diligence of the project’s architects, Cogdell and Mendrala out of Savannah and the board’s construction manager, Pope Construction out of Statesboro, which has overseen the building of fieldhouses all over the state.

“A lot of thought has gone into the design of the building,” Brooksher said. “The way the utility and ice room is angled, all of those teams will have immediate access to whatever they need.”

Brooksher said the board did a good job of recognizing a significant need for many of the system’s students.

“Right now whenever they have football games, they don’t have locker rooms to go into at halftime and have to sit on the hill by the middle school gym, and the weight room situation they have there is very limited,” he said. “They’ve been making do with a classroom they took and converted into a weight room, and the middle school currently doesn’t have one at all. We strive to support the needs of all our students as they work to build their various programs, and this is one big example of that.

“The building will have a very nice curb appeal. The entrance will face the home stands of the football field, and it will be neat for the home fans to see their team run out of their before a game.”

Perhaps no one was happier on Monday than board member Dennis Seger, who represents District 2 in north Bryan and has been a strong advocate for Redskin athletics.

“I’m tickled to death to finally see this day come,” Seger said. “We’ve been working for this a long time and for several years since I’ve been on the board. I wish (former superintendent John Oliver) could have been here because he worked really hard on this, and I want to thank our construction manager Bill Vickery for all the work he’s done day in and day out.

“I think it’s really going to be a blessing for Coach Wilson and his staff, and I know the young men and women will enjoy this.”